What Once Was But Never Will Be
by Allison Moose C
Summary: The boys are on a usual hunt and one of them comes across a problem, will the solve it? Set in Season 9! No shipping; refers back to my favorite episode 2.20; where Dean is 'living' the dream life.. I did my research on this so 99% of the new creatures I put in here are based on lore :)!This was a prompt for a challenge from a friend of mine.. She helped me explore; thanks Amber!


"I'm turning in for the night," Sam said; his back protesting from remaining in the same position for hours, "don't stay up too late, alright?"

"Okay mom, sure thing." Dean said with an eye roll.

Sam huffed in amusement. "Night!" He shouted from down the hall.

"Night." Dean replied audibly to his brother.

Dean rubbed the bridge of his nose as he continued to skim through thick piles of information. Back and forth he went from the lore to the patient records, making his eyes grow tired. He couldn't sleep, not now. He was so close, he could feel it. He scooched his chair back and rubbed his drooping eyelids. The bunker was silent, except for the occasional soft snore echoing from Sam's room.

"Maybe I'll do better in the morning." He sighed, stifling a yawn.

Leaving everything as if he just got up and left, he dragged himself to the bathroom and got ready for bed. As he laid down, his mind couldn't help but wander to one of the victims. His name was Victor, and he was only eight years old. _Why do the helpless always end up getting hurt?_

It wasn't long before the saddening thoughts of the helpless young boy silenced him into a dreamless state of slumber.

* * *

The first thing Dean awoke to was the sweet smell of coffee and creamer. _Up early, aren't we Sammy?_ He opened his eyes to see an oddly familiar room; he bolted upright. His eyes darted around the average-sized bedroom and back to the bed he was sleeping in. It wasn't his bed, it was a bed made for two, a queen bed. The other side was unkempt and cold; he was slightly clueless. _Where have I seen this room before?_ He quietly crept down a hallway and down some stairs off of the familiar room. The area was lit by some lamps in a living room, which was also familiar. _Weird._ He made his way to the kitchen. With caution, he slid over to the coffee maker and found a sort of sloppily written note beside a ceramic mug. 'Have a great day sweetie! :) Love you lots, Carmen' it read.

"Carmen?" Dean asked aloud.

He flipped over the note, half expecting to find a code or something on the back. Only it was just a slip of paper, nothing more. Tossing the note aside, he explored the small apartment in hopes of finding out where he was, or even why. In the next room, he came across some framed pictures. They were distantly familiar, but strangely inaccurate. One showed Sam with his mother and his old girlfriend Jessica, outside of a lit building. He was in a red graduation cap and gown. Another one was an unfamiliar Christmas family photo, with himself, Sam, and his parents all bundled together in festive attire. Dean stared at the photos and pondered for a few moments. It hit him, he knew where he was. He frantically searched his cell phone contacts and stopped a quarter of the way down. His heart nearly leapt out of his chest when the familiar voice answered the phone.

"M-mom?" He stuttered into the receiver.

* * *

Sam groggily rolled over to check the time; 10:30 AM.

"Shit." He grumbled as he swung his legs over the bed.

He kneaded his eyes with the heels of his hands and smoothed down his bed-head, his feet slapping down on the cold hallway tiles. He peeked into the library, half-expecting Dean to be out cold with his head actually _in_ the books. But when he just found all of his unkempt files astray, he felt a sense of pride from his gut. He never actually thought Dean would listen to his advice for once. Sam peered into Dean's slightly ajar door to find his older brother sound asleep. One arm was lazily slung across his abdomen while the other dangled slightly off of the bedside. Sam smiled at the peaceful sight of his brother and closed the door lightly, careful not to disturb him.

"I'll let him sleep a bit." He thought as he headed to the kitchen for some breakfast.

His stomach grumbled as he reached for the oatmeal in the upper cupboard. He would have made a nice diner-style breakfast, but he remembered that they were out of some ingredients. As the light hum of the microwave filled the kitchen, Sam decided to make his way to the library to inspect the files Dean had left out. Three profiles were scrambled into one pile, they were all children. Victor Emanuel Hart; 8 y.o; Cause of death: Unknown. Bridgette Rose Pyne; 6 y.o; Cause of death: Unknown. Jacklynn Rose Smith; 7 y.o... The only thing they seemed to have in common was an unknown cause of death, within a brief time period from the other victims, and were of a young age. They were residing in different states and had no relations to one another. He skimmed the other piles to see what else he could find, hoping Dean wouldn't kill him for slightly messing up his work. Coronary reports and autopsy photos, records and police reports, mostly useless. Maybe he would be able to convince his older brother to see the bodies again later. The pictures showed no visible wounds of course, but he thought they should check out the victims before the funeral services took the bodies. They were lucky to even pull the information that they did over the phone with the officers and their fake identities. Bobby may have not been around to help out anymore, but they still had a few tricks up their sleeves to get the job done. They also still had Charlie and Kevin to back them up if they needed the extra assistance.

The warming smell of oatmeal flooded the library, sending Sam straight to the microwave for his meal. He was surprisingly famished, despite that he had eaten dinner last night. He opened the door to the microwave and steam bellowed from it, almost burning his skin. Before he could burn anything else, he quickly rushed back to the library and slid it onto the table. His mouth was watering just from the smell alone as he lightly blew across the top of the bowl. He tried to concentrate on the lore while his bowl cooled, hoping it would distract his stomach, that was currently nipping at his sides. His brother had left one book open at a Japanese creature called the Baku. From the looks of it, he had a head start with some phone calls with the victims' families as well, based on some sticky notes that were stuck above the book. The first one read: Nightmares for months without end; no known mental illnesses. The others seemed to have the same information written on them except for the last one, which had an extra bullet on it: "Mother heard him murmuring aloud at night sometimes, told her the following morning that he was talking to his friend the 'Batu'; Heard it from his friends in his religious instruction classes." Well it definitely fit right into the lore; the Batu was called upon if a child was distressed from a nightmare. It would literally eat the child's nightmares, in exchange for a peaceful night. The lore didn't really specify anything else except for other rituals and ways to protect one's child from one. Sam set the book back on the table and reached for his laptop, which was where it normally was, at least when he would sit with Dean while they did their research. He opened it up and took a large spoonful of the oatmeal, making satisfied noises as he enjoyed each bite slowly. The computer softly hummed the boot up noise and Sam leaned forward, mentally preparing himself for another period of lengthy research once again.

* * *

An hour later Sam pushed the chair away from the table in defeat. There was nothing that could suggest why or how a Batu takes or kills its victims.

"Maybe Dean knows something I don't." Sam said as he walked towards his sibling's dormitory.

He was surprised that he wasn't awake already, it was almost noon! He knocked audibly on Dean's door, hoping he was at least getting ready.

"Dean? You awake?" Not even a rustling came from the room in response, which worried him.

Dean was in the same position that Sam had found him in earlier, one arm was still thrown across his stomach and the other dangling from the bedside. His covers were still the same, as if he hadn't moved at all. He rushed to check for any signs of life.

"Alright, pulse... is slower..? He's breathing.." Sam said aloud.

He checked for any signs of discomfort, a temperature, visible wounds... There was nothing to be found.

It didn't make sense, he wasn't waking up. And there was no reason he should have be unresponsive, at least that Sam could see. He shook him forcefully and repetitively slapped his face.

"Hey Dean, buddy, wake up."

Still no response, not even a twitch or an eye movement. He was still except for his brother frantically shaking him.

"Dean!"

* * *

It was like he was having a deja vu, it felt exactly the same. Almost like he was reliving the same dream. All. Over. Again. He knew he was dreaming, but it just felt so real. He closed his eyes and rang the doorbell. He bit his lip to try and will away his tears, but they had stubbornly crept up on his water line. The white door opened moments later, barely giving him time to think. He looked up and met the familiar set of blue eyes etched with deep concern. Up to the slightly unkempt, blonde hair thrown into a messy bun on top of her head. He couldn't believe his eyes. _Why now? Why not years before?_ He cleared his throat in a final attempt to choke back the emotional dam.

"Hey mom." He wavered as she welcomed him inside.

"Hey sweetie, what's wrong? You look upset.." Mary said as she closed the door with one hand and caressed his face with the other.

His eyes scanned the house from the front hallway, his gaze landing back onto his mother's angelic face. Dean's eyes finally betrayed him as a tear rolled slowly down his cheek; he pulled his mother into a tight hug. That was all that was needed for the rest to leak out. His failure to control his emotions racked his body in sobs, causing his mother to hug him even tighter and shush him.

"Shhhhh, honey it's okay." Mary hushed as she rubbed his back repetitively; she pushed him away gently to see his distraught face. "Hey, sweetie... Talk to me, what's wrong?"

Dean sniffled and wiped the tears away as he regained his posture. He drew in a deep breath and absently ran his hands through his shadow.

"It's nothing." -Mary gave him a bitch face- "No really, it's nothing, I promise. I just.." He trailed off momentarily, "...haven't seen you in a while, that's all."

"Okay... If you say so. Why did you come here so early? I thought when you said you wanted to come over, I thought you meant later on in the day... Not so early in the morning-. Are you sure everything's alright, dear?" Mary asked with great concern.

"Yes, yes I'm sure mom. My mistake, should have told you." Dean reassured. "I just felt a little homesick, that's all."

He trailed off into the familiar living room and observed the identical pictures on the shelves. They all were the same as his fake-reality many years before. None of it added up, but it didn't matter. He was home.

"I think I understand dear... Did you call into work this morning?" Mary asked.

 _Work? Yeah, definitely the last thing on his mind._

"Yeah, I called. I just needed to be home again.. You know?" The word sounded so alienated coming from his vocal cords; home.

His mother nodded and hummed in agreement. He had been this way years back, and she wondered what could have caused him to feel this way again. Dean had grown closer to the family over the years, but what could possibly have triggered a breakdown like this? She had just seen him a few weeks ago. She planted a kiss on his cheek and looked deeply into his emerald eyes, searching for any reasonable answer to her concerns.

"Well I'll be cooking some breakfast if you need anything, alright?" Mary said softly.

"Alright mom." He said.

She caressed his cheek and Dean leaned into her touch.

"And I mean anything." She added sincerely.

"Okay." Dean replied with a slightly annoyed expression.

Mary smiled deeply and walked into the kitchen. _Couldn't someone just miss home?_

* * *

"Cas, I-I don't know what to do! He won't wake up a-and there doesn't seem to be anything wrong with him!" Sam exclaimed as he sat down.

"And you've tried waking him?" Cas parroted, bending down to Dean's still form.

Sam gave him the bitch face causing Cas to raise his hands up in defense.

"Just checking."

Cas placed two fingers on Dean's forehead, making Dean scrunch his eyelids slightly. Cas closed his eyes momentarily, finding himself inside Dean's head. He suddenly became aware of the softly lit room of the Winchesters' old house. Dean was currently observing the pictures and knick-knacks on the shelves.

"He seems to be dreaming." Cas said, opening his eyes to an alert Sam behind him.

"He's dreaming? Well then why can't I wake him up?!" Sam asked.

"I don't know." Cas replied arrogantly.

"Couldn't you... wake him up or something?" Sam impatiently asked.

"I could try, but I can't promise he'll wake up."

Cas put his fingers back on Dean's forehead, finding it slightly chilling to the touch. He closed his eyes and found himself back where he was moments before, next to Dean by the wooden shelves of his past. Dean stumbled backward, surprised by his friend's random usual appearance (not like it was the first).

"Damnit Cas, you scared the shit out of me!" Dean quietly shouted as he unballed his fists.

"You need to wake up Dean." Cas stated firmly, ignoring the scare he gave his friend.

"What? Why? Is something wrong?" He asked.

"We don't know yet, but you aren't waking up. That's normally not a good sign." Cas replied urgently, afraid something might happen.

"How do I wake up?"

"I'm normally not well informed on the human brain, but you should be able to command yourself to be awake if you're aware that you're asleep." Cas informed briefly.

Dean glanced around the room for a final time as he tightly closed his eyes. Nothing happened. He tried again, but no progress. He was still there, at his old house, in front of his angelic friend, in the familiar room. He repeated the phrase 'wake up' multiple times, even closing his eyes tighter as he said so. But no matter what he tried, he remained in that room, in his dream, of a different reality.

"Cas, nothing's working! What's going on?!"

"I don't know, but it looks like you're trapped." He grinned and suddenly shifted into Dean's mother.

* * *

"Cas, are you alright?!"

Cas opened his eyes and leaned away from the sudden bright light that filled his eyes. His hearing was foggy and his vision was slightly hazy. He noticed he was against Dean's desk, Sam hovering cautiously over him. He rubbed the back of his head as the room spun. He closed his eyes and leaned his head back on the wooden desk.

"I think so, but I don't believe Dean is." Cas grumbled weakly.

Sam helped him up to where he sat moments ago and observed the angel's injuries. Luckily it only looked like he took a heavy blow to the head from being thrown back to Dean's desk, but he couldn't tell if anything was injured internally.

"Cas, what happened? What was that?!" Sam asked.

"I don't know, but it definitely wasn't good. I was basically thrown out of your brother's state of mind by something powerful. I tried helping Dean wake up and the next thing I know, I'm thrown against his desk." He said as he felt his power diminish.

"Do you think maybe Dean knew something about the case we were working on?" Sam asked Cas, suddenly connecting the dots.

"W...What does that have anything to do with this?" Cas panted as he tried to sit up a bit straighter.

"I'll be right back." Sam said as he backed out of the doorway and ran to the library. His footsteps eerily echoed down the hallway as he ran back with the lore book and the sticky notes Dean had left above them. He thankfully found Cas just as he left him; he handed the findings to Cas for him to scan over.

"We were cracking down on three separate victims with mysterious, unknown deaths across multiple states within a short time period. I hadn't found anything useful yet, but it looked like Dean had already almost cracked the case. Maybe what he was going to hunt, hunted him down first before he could get to it." Sam hypothesized as Cas finished scanning the papers.

"And he was hunting a Baku?" He asked while he set everything down.

"Yeah, it's a japanese creature that was said to eat nightmares of troubled children it got called to. But legend has it that if they call too many times, they would be preyed on and the Baku would eat them whole." Sam informed.

"A japanese creature on the other side of the world? How would that be possible?" Cas asked.

"Well someone could have brought it here with their culture from immigration, or the word just could have spread like folklore normally does." Sam said.

"Which explains the deaths across multiple states." Cas followed.

"Correct. But now we have to find out why it targeted Dean and how to get him out of this spell he's under." Sam replied.

"Well maybe Dean knew something we didn't, like how to stop it or something." Cas suggested.

"But how would the Baku know?"

"Good question. But first we should try and stop it before it does any more harm."

"Good idea." Sam agreed as he collected Dean's findings. "Can you get up on your own?" He asked as he saw his friend struggle to stand on his feet.

"Yeah, I think I'm good, just a bit sore." Cas lied.

Sam reluctantly took him on his word and sped-walked back to the library to research once again. Cas joined him not much later and cracked open one of the boys' laptops. The search had begun; time was precious.

* * *

"What's wrong Dean? You look quite startled.." The thing that transformed into his mother asked shrewdly.

"What are you doing to me?" Dean hissed as he backed away slowly and searched for something to stop the creature.

The thing chuckled and slowly walked closer to him, suddenly turning into Carmen. It cornered him to a wall, forcing him to search for a way out. It touched his cheek romantically and sighed. Dean turned his head away in disgust as it drew itself closer into his personal space.

"Now now Dean, would hate to ruin what you've got here... Wouldn't you?" It purred as it connected his hands to 'Carmen's' hands firmly.

"I don't have anything here. This is a dream caused by the disgusting thing lurking in front of me." Dean spat.

The creature disguised as Carmen frowned. "That hurts Dean... I was only granting your deepest desires you had wished for.." It said.

"I never asked anyone for this." He replied with confusion. He hadn't told anyone anything, how could this thing possibly know anything he wished for? Unless...

"...If I had read your thoughts?" Dean looked slightly shocked as it broke the silence. "You know it's rude to talk behind people's backs Dean.."

Dean swallowed hard. Shit. He would never be able to think of anything the same again.

"I know you wanted this deep down hun, I can feel it." It whispered as it trailed a finger down to the center of Dean's chest. "My insight's never wrong, Dean." It leaned in close enough to taste Dean's alcohol breath.

"But why me, of all people you could have chosen..?"

"I can taste the desires from miles away.. All I had to do was pick up your scent from a crime scene and voila.. You're all mine." It mumbled romantically, looking straight into his eyes. "Besides, wouldn't want someone to kill me off the food chain... Would I?"

* * *

Time seemed to race as Sam dug continuously into the lore. He couldn't find anything, except for the same details. Baku, dream eater, dream granter, preys on repetitive nightmare-inflicted individuals, mostly children. But why would it go after Dean? It didn't add up. More importantly, how could they stop this thing before it stopped Dean? Sporadic clicks from the laptop occasionally broke Sam from his thoughts, only frustrating him further.

"I think I may have found something useful." Cas said suddenly, causing Sam to rush over excitedly.

He turned the laptop over to Sam feeling accomplished. He had never felt so useful without all of his grace, it was almost... rejuvenating. It made him think back to when he had become a hunter for a day, when he thought it would be so easy and fulfilling. But the boys taught him that it was anything but easy. It was more than just a past-time sport, it was a job, a legacy even.

"So it looks like the only way we can ward these things off is to show them a representation of themselves, like a figurine or a sculpture.. That's a start." Sam informed, still scanning the page for more information.

Cas raised his eyebrows, expecting at least some praise from the youngest winchester. Sam furrowed his eyebrows as he concentrated on the website in front of him, still seeming to be searching for something.

"But the question is... How do we gank it?" Sam thought aloud.

Cas lowered his eyebrows in discouragement, and looked down at the table. Sam looked down to Cas' slumped form, seeing the change in his expression.

"Hey, Cas, look. You did good, okay?" Sam knelt down slightly to get to his eye level. "You gave us a good lead, but we just need to keep searching, alright? We can't let one small thing stop us from saving Dean." Sam encouraged gently, adding a smirk for reassurance.

Cas smiled back and looked at Sam in the eyes. They haven't lost hope, not yet. If Sam didn't lose hope, neither should he. He felt a slight tug at his vessel's heart. This must be determination, he thought. He still had to become accustomed with emotions, but he knew from the observances. Of Sam, of Dean, of Jimmy. It was as if Jimmy was telling him to not give up. No, not yet. Not just on Dean, but on Sam. He needed him. That's one thing he wouldn't do is let them down again.

"You're right, we can't give up. We won't give up." Cas replied defiantly.

Sam patted his shoulder and went to grab the spare laptop from across the library. Cas continued to scroll through the websites when he suddenly thought of something. They had a lead, and they needed to tell Dean. He could be in danger, and here they were researching in a library.

"Sam, I'll be right back." Cas said suddenly.

The flapping of his wings echoed throughout the bunker, barely giving Sam a chance to turn around and question Cas' disappearance. He sighed with frustration and booted up the computer's system.

* * *

"Whoever said that this had to be a bad thing? Whoever said this couldn't be a little... _fun_?" The creature that took Carmen's form purred softly as its fingers slid up Dean's neck.

Suddenly a couple of booming flaps bounced off of the walls of the room and a large breeze blew over several knick-knacks and pictures off of the shelves. The creature slowly turned around to find Cas in a battle stance; it gave him a disgusted look.

"Look who came to crash the party." It snarled.

It started closer, causing Cas to look down slightly. It was only a couple moments, but to Cas it felt like a century. They deathly stared at each other until the creature turned around to face Dean.

"What did you do, pray to your little angel here to come save your ass?" It asked as it started towards Dean.

"Actually, no." Cas interrupted, causing it to turn around again. "I've actually come to save his ass myself."

"And how are you gonna do that? With your angel powers? Please, those don't phase me." It scoffed.

Castiel reached into his inner pocket and pulled out a small figurine. Just before it could shield its eyes, it disappeared in a bright flash. Dean lowered his arm from his face and walked towards Cas.

"What the hell was that?!" Dean exclaimed.

"I believe I got us some time to help you out." Cas replied as he handed Dean the small figurine.

The figurine was a heavy marble creature, with a trunk, cat-like paws, tusks, and a cat-tail. Its features were twisted slightly to form a spiral-like appearance. Dean observed it and then looked back to his friend.

"Next time you see her, show her this figurine. Its her true form and serves as protection, at least for the time being." Cas informed.

They held their gaze with each other for a moment until Castiel disappeared in front of Dean's eyes. Dean looked around expecting someone to be with him. He searched the house to find it completely deserted.

"I should help them with the research." Dean thought to himself as he searched the house for a computer.

* * *

Sam looked up from the spare laptop to the sound of angel wings echoing throughout the bunker. Cas walked a little slower than usual to the library table and put one hand on the table and the other on his forehead. He looked a little drained, but better compared to earlier. Sam rushed over and helped him to a chair carefully. He sighed as he rubbed his eyes in exhaustion.

"Cas, where did you go?" Sam asked as he took in the angel's state. He avoided to ask why he looked so drained.

"I retrieved something that resembled a Baku and gave us some time to work with." Cas panted.

"...I'm guessing it worked then." Sam replied as he retrieved the other laptop for Cas. "Think you can handle some more research?"

* * *

Endless research, that's all hunting seemed to be. He didn't know how much time had went by, but it seemed like hours. Dean had finally found a computer in the attic. He had never been so determined to research in his sleep, in his whole life. He couldn't find anything to gank this thing, and he knew the Baku would be back soon. Obviously his brother and the angel were stuck as well, so he continued to ponder.

"I wonder if there's some sort of banishing spell.." Dean thought aloud.

Just as he began to type 'banishing spell' into the search bar, a bright flash erupted from behind him and illuminated on the computer in front of him. He stood up and turned around with the figurine in hand, but nothing happened. He held it out from himself and cautiously walked closer to the creature posing as Carmen.

"Sorry hun, that doesn't seem to work anymore... Sucks to be you, doesn't it?" It said confidently as it lunged for Dean.

* * *

"Something isn't right Sam, I can feel it." Cas said, breaking the silence.

Sam looked over to Cas to see a troubled expression on his face; he knew something was wrong. Sam thought for a moment and then looked back at Cas.

"I'm guessing your weak powers aren't enough to kill it.." Sam said.

Cas shook his head and it seemed to spin. He held his head in his hands to maintain stability, causing Sam to look over. Cas held up a thumb, knowing the youngest Winchester was already beginning to question his physical state. Silence swallowed the room again momentarily, despite Cas' panting.

"There has to be something we're missing..." Sam mumbled.

"Have you tried searching for a banishing spell?" Cas grunted in a slightly muffled voice from his head being projected towards the floor.

"Have you tried the simple term search of it already?" Sam asked hurriedly.

"Yes, and I found nothing so far." Cas replied, slowly lifting his head up.

"I would say a Purgatory spell, but it looks like we don't have much time to work with here.." Sam said as he walked over to the set of stairs that led to the dungeon. "If I can't find anything on there, maybe the archives have something to offer."

He turned on the dim light of the musty lair and quickly started over to the archives. He remembered Kevin had mentioned a banishing spell when he banished Crowley's demons and decided to give him a quick call. He picked up on the second ring.

"Hi Sam, what's up?" Kevin answered on the other end.

"Kevin, there's something important I need you to remember. Are you alone right now?"

A brief pause and shuffling was heard from Sam's end of the line.

"Yeah, shoot away." He replied momentarily.

"Alright, do you remember when you were with Crowley and you banished his demons to hell?"

Kevin sighed at the mention of the name that sent him misery, not likely wishing to remember those times.

"Yeah, why?"

"We're trying to banish a Baku, a creature that feeds off of nightmares." Sam informed with brevity, searching the archive files for any banishing rituals.

"I'm not really the best at spells, but you might be better off with what they call a repelling spell." Kevin replied.

"A repelling spell? What does that do?"

More shuffling is heard on the other line. "It's not a banishing spell, but it's your best bet at the moment."

Sam pulled out a manilla folder marked 'banishment' and dropped it on the floor in front of him. He kneeled down and scanned the handwritten entries for the words 'repelling spell'.

"Don't bother looking in the archives, it might take a while to come across this one. The only reason I know of this one is because of my mom's involvement with that witch last year. It's only one latin word that needs to be recited, but it involves deep concentration." Kevin interrupted, overhearing Sam's hopeless digging into the manilla folder.

"The person that wants to use this spell correctly must concentrate on repelling all objects around themself. The spell can repel any object around them with a movement as simple as a finger or a toe lift." Kevin recited on the other end.

"Wow, that's some serious stuff.." Sam responded.

"The word that needs to be recited is 'Abite'" Kevin said as he scanned his own notes.

"Awesome, thanks Kev." Sam said as he hung up and ran upstairs.

When he reached the library, he found Cas barely holding it together in front of the laptop. He rushed over and shook him gently. His eyes began to droop heavily and bags were clearly visible under his sunken eyes. He had a feeling his friend might not be able to make the trip to Dean.

"Cas, you with me?" Sam asked softly.

"Kinda.." Cas grunted and then coughed.

"I found a way to banish this thing. But I need to know if you're capable of remembering a few things for Dean." Cas began to speak. "And be honest." Sam interrupted.

"It depends on how much I need to remember, but I feel I have just enough to make a single trip or send him a thought or two." Cas answered truthfully.

* * *

Dean blinked heavily to see the creature towering over him, making him feel powerless. It chuckled and stepped on his hand forcefully, hearing a series of cracks flood the silent attic. Dean grunted in pain as she knelt down.

"My my, you're a fighter.. Wish it didn't have to end this way sweetheart, you looked like a keeper." It cooed as it played with a few tufts of his hair.

"Bite me, it ain't over yet." Dean grunted through clenched teeth.

"Oh gladly, I was just getting to that part.." It replied seductively.

It leaned down and began to nibble on one of his ears, making him close his eyes. He refused to be brought pleasure , but if he was going to die, he might as well make it last. He moaned slightly and deeply kissed the creature on top of him. He imagined it really was Carmen, the one he deeply loved in his long lost dreams. He was broken out of his fantasy by a hard bite on his upper lip.

"I know I'm tasty, but I'm not edible." He inserted.

"Oh sweetie, don't you know? You're my next meal, and I'm going to eat you piece, by, piece." It responded deviously as it ripped off a large section of his upper lip.

He began to scream in agony as it dove in for other parts of his face and head. It just tore off large sections of his ear when a large flap of wings erupted throughout the dim-lit attic, followed by a large thud.

"Dean. I need you to listen carefully." A familiar voice grumbled loudly from across the attic.

Cas. The creature stepped off of Dean hastily and headed over towards the voice at the other side of the room.

"A little weak to be fighting a creature like me, buddy boy." It chuckled as it flicked his friend to the nearest wall.

"A spell Dean. Abite." Cas said hoarsely but audibly, recieving a blow in the stomach. He spat out some blood. "Concentrate!" He yelled as the creature lowered itself to the angel's level.

Dean slowly stood up, ignoring the searing pain in multiple areas of his face and closed his eyes. He imagined he had power, almost as if he was possessed by Micheal.

"Abite!" He shouted from across the room, closing his eyes as he did it.

The creature stopped, unable to physically move. Cas coughed and grunted as he rolled closer to an adjacent wall. Dean walked closer to the creature that froze in position, time seemed to flow like he was submerged in molasses. He grabbed the creature by the chin and rose it up. A scream roared from her as a blinding light vaporized their surroundings.

* * *

Dean gasped and bolted upright, absently feeling his surprisingly undamaged face. Sam rushed over to his side as a thud echoed throughout the bunker. They both looked at each other and ran to the source of the noise. There beside a chair in the library was their friend Cas, motionless and slightly bloody. They dropped their weapons and rushed over to the angel to check for any sign of major injury. Finding nothing, they both picked him up and dragged him to one of the unused guest rooms. After placing him on the bed, they both looked at each other and grabbed medical supplies from their rooms. They hurried back to their friend and tended his visible wounds that needed to be addressed, in silence. Several minutes later, they grabbed chairs and watched over the angel, feeling a sense of irony.

"Us watching over an angel, who would think?" Dean replied as he opened a beer. He sighed in delight as the liquid warmed his insides.

"Yeah." Sam agreed, looking back at the unconscious angel. He wondered if the angel would be okay as Dean offered him a bottle of whiskey.

He accepted the offer and took a long swig at the needed comfort. They sat in silence for several moments, watching the angel's stomach rise and fall rhythmically.

"So, you good?" Sam asked, knowing Dean would likely not want to discuss what had happened.

"Yeah, I'm good." He replied almost truthfully after a long swig of the delightful drink.


End file.
